There have been rumors for a long time that there would be a next installment. xbox It will actually be a PC-console hybrid of sorts. It's a move that continues Microsoft's ostensible move away from traditional, exclusive-focused console gaming. This makes sense considering Microsoft's obvious PC integration, which allows it to “play nice” with the PC crowd. Moreover, this also coincides with the recent launch of the ROG Xbox Ally, which is nothing more than an Xbox-branded portable PC.
Beyond what Xbox leadership has hinted at, the notion of Microsoft creating a PC-console hybrid is supported by Windows Central, which claims to have confirmed these plans through its sources.
Whether this is a wise move by Microsoft is debatable, but it's clear that if this is indeed the direction the company is heading, it won't be just Microsoft. Fellow PC-centric gaming company and emerging hardware giant Valve just announced a new Steam Machine that has everything the rumored PC-Xbox hybrid console aims to do. A Steam Machine is a small, pre-built PC that runs SteamOS for a smoother, console-like experience. Essentially, the Steam Machine presents itself as an accessible gateway to PC gaming, further blurring the lines between PC and consoles. Unfortunately for Xbox, Valve may be in a much better position to execute this kind of strategy, which could result in some unexpectedly fierce competition.
Steam Machine Could Cause Problems with Xbox's Next Console
What Xbox's Next Console Will Do
Let's give this new Xbox-PC device a fair evaluation and give it an overall review. The most obvious advantage for Microsoft is the Xbox ecosystem that already exists. By marketing its next-generation home console as a comfortable stopgap between Xbox and PC gaming, Microsoft can attract a large number of gamers within its own installed base. These customers may be attracted by the promise of maintaining their digital Xbox library, but they also have the added benefit of having access to PC-exclusive games. Of course, this means Xbox loyalists will also have access to a number of first-party PlayStation games, as Sony has ported many of its titles to PC since the console's initial launch.
Put another way, an Xbox-PC hybrid console could offer longtime Xbox owners the best of both worlds. You can also maintain your Xbox library and account and enjoy PlayStation exclusives you missed from the last two console generations. This allowed Microsoft to quickly and efficiently address its most persistent weakness: the lack of competitive proprietary products.
The Steam Machine is still better positioned than Xbox's next console.
Unfortunately, the above benefits only really apply to those already established in the Xbox ecosystem. That demographic continues to shrink as Xbox loses more market share to PC stores like Sony, Nintendo, and Steam. It's likely that Xbox splitting the partition between console and PC will be purely positive, but this is something Steam already did years ago with Steam Deck. In the same vein, consumers are more likely to trust hardware on Steam given its newfound popularity and visibility, while the recent ROG Xbox Ally was largely viewed as disappointing and overpriced. One company left a bad taste in consumers' mouths with its PC-derived hardware. Not Valve.
From an optics and branding standpoint, Steam is currently doing much better than Xbox and boasts a more competent public image. Since Xbox also releases most of its games on Steam, the Steam Machine will probably be able to run all of the same games as Xbox's rumored console. Content-wise, the Steam Machine and the reported Xbox-PC are fairly evenly matched, but the Steam Machine is coming off the heels of a much more successful consumer PC effort in the Steam Deck, while the Xbox has struggled to prove the worth of its hardware for years. Still-unrevealed details, such as the launch prices of these two devices (especially considering Xbox Game Pass), could be the deciding factor in the upcoming console fight.
- brand
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microsoft
- original release date
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November 10, 2020
- Original MSRP (USD)
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$499
- operating system
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Proprietary (Windows-based)
- processor
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Custom AMD 8-core Zen 2 3.8GHz
- solve
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720p – 4K UHD
Microsoft's 9th generation console, Xbox Series X, is a powerful machine that can support 4K resolution and 60fps depending on the game. The Series X, which launched alongside the Xbox Series S, features a custom AMD Zen 2 CPU, custom RDNA 2 GPU, and 16GB of RAM.
